€257m for Christmas bonus not yet assured, says Regina Doherty

She will tell the committee that in the past four years, the Government was in a position to pay the bonus given continuing improvement in the State’s financial position. “I will continue to monitor the financial position and consult with my colleagues and I am hopeful that we will be in a position to pay a Christmas bonus again this year,” she will say.

Last December, an 85% bonus was paid to some 1.2m long-term social welfare recipients, including pensioners, people with disabilities, carers, lone parents, and long-term unemployed, at a cost of €218.6m.

The committee will hear pensioners affected by the 2012 rule change that reduced their payments will be reimbursed from March.

I was happy to announce earlier this year that the Government decided that pensioners affected by the 2012 changes in rate bands could have their pension entitlement recalculated on the basis of a total contributions approach, including provision for up to 20 years of a new homecaring credit,” Ms Doherty will say.

“This approach will make it easier for many post-2012 pensioners affected by the 2012 rate band changes, who are currently assessed under the yearly average model, to qualify for a higher rate of contributory State pension. We had constructive discussions on this issue at this committee and I thank the committee for its input. It is intended that first payments will be made in quarter 1 next year, backdated to March 2018.”

Ms Doherty will also outline her desire to prioritise the needs of lone parents as well as increasing payments such as pensions, carers, and disability payments in line with inflation in the budget.

Ms Doherty will also say the Live Register has continued to decline at an extraordinary rate.

At over €20bn, the budget for the Department of Social Protection represents about 36% of gross Government expenditure.